It’s time to celebrate Asian Pacific films from May 5-13, 2022
Get ready to take Los Angeles by storm with the 38th Annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival this year starting Thursday May 5th for whirlwind of films, documentaries, animation, shorts, panels and more. I always love to not only see myself but see the rich tapestry of other ethnic groups stories and LAAPFF always has a delightfully edited schedule that has me wishing to be in multiplace places at once. Over they years I’ve discovered actors, writers, directors, musicians and more who I seek out after first being introduced at the festival. This year has a schedule that has me excited to be vaccinated so that I can celebrate the festival and the talented filmmakers.
I recommend looking at the schedule and buy tickets ASAP since screenings/events sell out. Also look at the ‘HOW TO FEST‘ for details on COVID protocols and important information.
World Premieres at LAAPFF
LAAPFF is also honored to host the World Premieres of the following films:
● Yasir Masood’s narrative feature debut ISTIKHAARA, NEW YORK which follows Reza, an artist and Brooklyn transplant, Babbu, a recent immigrant and revolutionary from Delhi, and Rahul, an aspiring Imam and crony capitalist, finding themselves in an America where they are ever the more important but feeling even more looked over.
● The stylish action thriller ALL I WANT IS EVERYTHING, from director Alexandra Cuerdo.
● 80 YEARS LATER, from Celine Parreñas Shimizu, which captures how families continually grapple with the legacy of Executive Order 9066 which imprisoned Japanese Americans in World War II.
Opening Day Lineup
The festival will kick off May 5th at the Director’s Guild of America Theater with a robust Day One line-up that includes:
● The World Premieres of 20th edition of Armed With A Camera showcase, a fellowship for Emerging Media Artists to develop the next generation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander artists to connect our communities through the power of our stories. Past Armed With A Camera fellows include: Christopher Makoto Yogi (Director, I WAS A SIMPLE MAN) AWC 2013 – MAKOTO: OR, HONESTY; Evan Jackson Leong (Director, SNAKEHEAD) AWC 2003 – SUCKERBALL 73; and Kristina Wong (2022 Lucille Lortel Awards Nominee for Outstanding Solo Show) AWC 2003 – BEAT THE BUS.
● The Los Angeles Premiere of Alika Tengan debut feature EVERY DAY IN KAIMUKĪ following its World Premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
● Anam Abbas THIS STAINED DAWN, a powerful look Karachi’s feminists who organise a woman’s march, coming up against Pakistan’s state, media and radical religious right;
● And a special showcase featuring the Visual Communications archive, anchored by the early works of Robert A. Nakamura
Centerpiece Weekend
The festival continues at the DGA Theater with the Centerpiece Weekend featuring:
● The North American Premiere of Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s THE ASSAULT, fresh from its World Premiere at IFF Rotterdam and the first filmfrom Kazakhstan to screen at the festival.
● New feature filmmaker David Siev’s SXSW Audience Award and Special Jury prize winner BAD AXE, a moving look at his in a rural Michigan, as they now fight to keep their restaurant alive in the face of a global pandemic, racial reckoning, and generational scars from the Cambodian Killing Fields.
● Festival alum Tom Huang’s family dramedy DEALING WITH DAD starring Ally Maki, Hayden Szeto, And Peter S. Kim.
● First time filmmakers Eugene Yi and Julie Ha’s Sundance sensation FREE CHOL SOO LEE focusing on the story of a Korean American death row inmate convicted of a 1973 Chinatown gangland murder in San Francisco, and the activists who led a pan-Asian American movement to free him .
● Award winning director Ham Tran’s Vietnamese sci-fi kids adventure MAIKA. When a meteor falls to earth, 8-year-old Hung meets an alien girl from the planet Maika, searching for her lost friend.
● Fresh new feature filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Sundance Special Jury Winner LEONOR WILL NEVER DIE.
● Emerging filmmaker Renuka Jeyapalan’s debut feature STAY THE NIGHT will screen following its World Premiere at SXSW.
Additional Festival Highlights
● The LA Premiere of WATERMAN, Isaac Halasima’s look at Native Hawaiian and surfing icon Duke Kahanamoku, narrated by Jason Momoa.
● MSNBC Anchor Richard Lui’s latest film HIDDEN WOUNDS which profiles three families at the intersection of mental health and caregiving.
● The West Coast premiere of DELIKADO, an environmental thriller on how corrupt corporate and political interests are swallowing small Indigenous communities in the Philippines, and across the globe.
● Young Min Kim’s narrative feature debut DAWNING, a chilling psychological thriller.
● Special Presentation of FRAN ROCKSTAR!, a retrospective of short films celebrating one of VC’s beloved veterans of the Digital Histories program, Frances Ito, Ito who will celebrate her 90th birthday this year, will also celebrate the world premiere of her 12th film at this year’s fest.
● The LA Premiere Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan’s THE HEADHUNTER’S DAUGHTER, winner of the Sundance Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
● The latest film from acclaimed Philippine director Mikhail Red’s – the revenge thriller ARISAKA – which follows a policewoman who has to retrace the route of the Bataan Death March to escape her captors.
● The LA premiere of BUSAN, 1999, a drama from Thomas Percy Kim that follows a Korean-American woman return to her mother’s rustic home.
● Deann Borshay Liem’s CROSSING, which looks at a group of international women peacemakers sets out on a risky journey across the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
● Acclaimed musician Kishi Bashi explores the legacy of Japanese American internment through his music in his directorial debut OMOIYARI: A SONG FILM BY KISHI BASHI, co-directed with Justin Taylor Smith which premiered at SXSW.
● Legacy Award presented to Mira Nair, which will include a Special Anniversary screening of SALAAM BOMBAY!, her acclaimed breakthrough feature film.
● The North American premiere of the animated feature THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE, adapted from a manga series by the same name and directed by Yutaru Kubo and Satomi Maiya.
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival | May 5 – 13, 2022
festival.vcmedia.org
#LAAPFF2022
ABOUT VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
Visual Communications’ mission is to develop and support the voices of Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers and media artists who empower communities and challenge perspectives. Founded in 1970 with the understanding that media and the arts are powerful forms of storytelling, Visual Communications creates cross cultural connections between peoples and generations.
Instagram: @VCMediaorg
ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL
The 38th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, runs from May 5 – 13, 2022 as a hybrid event, taking place virtually and in person at select cinemas in the Los Angeles area. The largest festival of its kind in Southern California, LAAPFF is a proud Academy Award®-qualifying film festival for the Short Film Awards. For program and ticket information, please visit festival.vcmedia.org.
The Festival is proud to be partnering with our following screening venues across Los Angeles:
Aratani Theatre @ Japanese American Cultural & Community Center – Little Tokyo (DTLA): 244 S San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tateuchi Democracy Forum @ Japanese American National Museum: 111 N Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Directors Guild of America: 7920 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Visual Communications is supported by:
Foundation: Aratani Foundation, Asian Pacific Community Fund, California Community Foundation, California Humanities, Getty Foundation, John Randolph Haynes Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Keiro, Mellon Foundation, Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, LA Arts Recovery Fund, National Film Preservation Foundation, SAG-AFTRA Producers IACF
Government: California Arts Council, California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, California Revealed, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, Japanese American Confinement Sites (National Park Service), National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities
Corporate: Comcast NBCUniversal, Creative Industries Hawaiʻi, Directors Guild of America, The Foundation for Global Sports Development, Greenberg Traurig, HBO Max, Pacific Islanders In Communications, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Media
About Author
